The leaves are changing here in Utah. If you look closely at the mountains you can see pockets of red where trees are showing their fall foliage. It’s pretty, but I have to say that growing up in Vermont spoiled me for foliage anywhere else.

Hmmm, hard to compare.

Monday evening Devon and I hiked to the “Y” on Y Mountain. For those who aren’t familiar with BYU, on the mountain to the east of campus there is a 300+ ft Y made of whitewashed rocks. It was put up there in the early 1900s and originally there were supposed to be a B and a U with it, but the Y was created first to get everything centered correctly. After realizing how much work it was to make just the Y, (it’s a steep hike and a fair ways up the mountain) the decision was made to skip the B and the U. There is a well established trail up to the Y and it is a tradition for BYU students to hike it at least once during their time at the school. We went on Monday since Ryan and Aubrey were going with the kids, although through miscommunication and bad cell phone service we ended up hiking to the top of the Y and missing them at the bottom of the Y. We did get to see an exhausted Rhett at the end of the hike staring at us like he had no clue where he was or who we were, which was priceless. Impressively, he did the whole hike himself.

At the trailhead. There are no images after this because it got dark.

BYU’s big rival, the University of Utah, also has a block letter on the mountain near campus. In fact, many high schools in the area do. I point of U of U’s, however, because I work near it and every time I see it I am struck with how lazy the Utes were in making their block letter. Let’s just say there is no hike to the “U”.

Common Name: Retrotruck

Latin Name: Monasteriense pax ‘retro’

Approximate Age: Old

Top MPH: Slow

Average MPG: Unknown. The Retrotruck measures gas in “barrels”.

Natural Habitat: Fitting in best at drive-in movies and malt shops, the habitat of the Retrotruck is largely destroyed. These days, the Retrotruck usually occupies a spot in a garage or back yard, only occasionally coming out to show other monster trucks their heritage.

Unique Features: The Retrotruck is the classiest of the monster trucks. In size it measures up to most other monsters, but due to it’s shape and proportions it doesn’t seem monsterish but rather more like an enlarged version of a matchbox car.

Devon finished his second quarter at Neumont on Friday. Since this was a busy and stressful quarter, we’re both glad it’s over. He now has two weeks off before starting classes again. He is planning on making a program with some other students over the break so they don’t get bored (or play Dolphin Olympics 2 all day long) but they haven’t decided what they want to make yet. If you have suggestions for a program you’d like that can be done in two weeks by a group of new computer science students, feel free to share.

Also, Devon and the other students that worked on the 7 Wonders of  the World website that he posted on earlier were awarded first place in their experience class at the Project Showcase last week. Congratulations to them! Also congratulations to the makers of the fine trophies awarded to the students. Devon said he was in the elevator at the moment when the women delivering the trophies realized Neumont is splled with a “U” and not a “W”. She looked at the paper to see what room to deliver them to, and then quickly looked at the trophies and quietly uttered an expletive. I think the misspelling makes it even more special.

Common Name: H2Big

Latin Name: Monasteriense pax ‘enormous’

Approximate Age: 2 years

Top MPH: On a flat surface – 80 MPH. Up a sheer moutain cliff – 45 MPH

Average MPG: 5

Natural Habitat: The H2Big wants to be a tank. It craves sand and rivers and mountains that it can demolish under its huge tires. Sadly, however the H2 is most often observed parked at shopping malls and grocery stores, its roomy interior filled with shoes and shopping bags.

Unique Features: There is no denying, the H2Big is larger than most SUVs. Like a small house on wheels, the H2Big towers over other vehicles that are not in the monster truck class. Often it is seen driven by petite women, rather than the manly soldier type you would expect to be associated with it. One can only assume that these women are more fragile than other women and need the protection of a tank to drive safely around town.

Discovering that Devon is red/green color blind has opened up new possibilities for decorating at our house. How so, do you say? Well, check out the new picture for our kitchen wall:

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Common Name: Tug Boat

Latin Name: Monasteriense pax ‘tug navis’ 

Approximate Age: Anywhere from 1-7 years

Top MPH: On land, 70 MPH. On a lake . . . well, zero. Trucks and lakes don’t mix.

Average MPG: 6

Natural Habitat: The Tug Boat is commonly seen throughout rural and urban areas, even in the desert climate of Utah. On holiday weekends they are frequently observed on the road, carrying coolers and jet skis and spreading zebra mussels from lake to lake. Most days, however, they are observed parked in the back of a weedy driveway or in an overgrown corner of the lawn.

Unique Features: The Tug Boat, quite obviously, is always seen towing a boat around. Often the boat is painted to match the monster truck (or is it the other way around?) and the bigger the boat, the flashier and bigger the monster truck pulling it. With so little water in Utah, one has to travel far distances to actually use a boat (rather than just leave it at a camp on a lake), so the Boat Puller is a popular variety of monster truck. It is perhaps one of the most useful monster trucks to be discovered to date.

Somehow Devon has lived his whole life up until yesterday not knowing that he was red/green colorblind. He discovered this quirky trait of his own genetics during a student’s presentation on colorblindness in their public speaking class. When the student showed typical tests for colorblindness, Devon was surprised that he couldn’t see anything in over half of them. He came home and googled more and realized that maybe green isn’t his favorite color after all. Maybe it’s red.